Python API¶

Opening the window from your own code, and the environment variables that make picker paths portable across a studio.

Opening the picker¶

import Am_picker

Am_picker.load()                  # Anim mode
Am_picker.load(edit=True)         # Edit mode
Am_picker.load(dockable=True)     # Maya dockable workspace control

load() returns the main window instance.

Argument	Default	What it does
`edit`	`False`	`True` opens in Edit mode, `False` in Anim mode
`dockable`	`False`	Use Maya's dockable workspace control instead of a free-floating window

Each call gives you a fresh window rather than re-showing the previous one.

dockable=True is not finished

The dockable path exists but is deliberately not offered anywhere in the tool's own UI. Treat it as unsupported; use the default window.

Version¶

import Am_picker

Am_picker.__version__     # '1.0.0-beta.1'
Am_picker.DISPLAY_NAME    # 'Am_Picker' — the user-facing name

Making your own shelf button¶

If you installed with the drag-and-drop installer you already have one. To build your own — a studio shelf, a marking menu, a custom launcher — the command is:

import Am_picker
Am_picker.load()

If you installed into the AM_Tools module, the installer also writes a small entry-point module you can call instead. It gives you the same menu the shelf button raises:

import AM_Tools.am_picker as am_picker

am_picker.menu()        # the Anim / Edit pop-up menu at the cursor
am_picker.open_anim()   # straight to Anim mode
am_picker.open_edit()   # straight to Edit mode

open_anim() and open_edit() report a missing installation clearly rather than raising a bare ImportError, which makes them the better choice for a shelf button somebody else will use.

AM_Tools keeps a small registry so several tools can share one shelf menu:

import AM_Tools

AM_Tools.register(
    "my_tool.main",              # unique id, "<tool>.<action>"
    "My Tool",                   # menu label
    my_module.launch,            # zero-argument callable
    icon=AM_Tools.icon_path("my_tool.png"),
    tooltip="What this does.",
    tool="my_tool",
)

AM_Tools.popup(AM_Tools.entries(tool="my_tool"), title="My Tool")

Function	Does
`register(key, label, callback, icon, tooltip, tool)`	Add an entry, replacing any with the same key and keeping its place
`unregister(key)`	Remove one
`entries(tool=None)`	The registered entries, optionally filtered to one tool
`build_menu(items, title)`	Build the styled `QMenu` without showing it
`popup(items, title, pos)`	Show it at the cursor
`module_root()`	The AM_Tools install root
`icon_path(name)`	Absolute path of an icon in `<root>/icons`, or `""`

Environment variables¶

`AM_PICKER_PATH`¶

A root folder for picker files. Paths under it are stored in the picker as a [AM_PICKER_PATH] token rather than an absolute path:

[AM_PICKER_PATH]/characters/kamal.ampkr

Set the variable per machine or per project and the same picker resolves correctly on every workstation — the classic case being artists whose projects are mounted at different drive letters.

import os
os.environ["AM_PICKER_PATH"] = "//studio/projects/showA/pickers"

Set it before Maya loads — in userSetup.py, or in your pipeline's launcher — so it is present when a scene opens a picker.

`ANIM_PICKER_PATH`¶

The legacy variable name, still recognised so older setups keep working. Files carrying [ANIM_PICKER_PATH] tokens are rewritten to [AM_PICKER_PATH] when they are loaded and saved. Use the new name for anything new.

Where settings are stored¶

Preferences live in Maya's own optionVars, prefixed AP_am_picker_. That means they follow the user's Maya preferences rather than the install, and survive reinstalling the tool.

They are not part of a picker file — a picker carries no preferences, so opening somebody else's picker never changes your setup.

Reloading during development¶

Am_picker.reload_package reloads the package in a live Maya session, so you can iterate on your own additions without restarting Maya:

import Am_picker.reload_package as rp
rp.reload_am_picker_package()

It restores the mode you were in and cleans up the docked channel box and tab switchers on the way through. Close anything you care about first — this is a development convenience, not a supported user-facing feature.